Theater

When you love completely, are you transformed into a heavenly shape or a dastardly one?

If your child is continually acting out in school, should you get meds from your doctor to calm him or her down?

Imagine one of Tennessee Williams's larger-than-life mother figures dropped into a Lanford Wilson play, and you'll have a hint at what to expect.

I didn't know how fresh a new revival could be after more than half a century. But thanks to bright performances, crisp staging, and dashing new dances and musical arrangements that respect their sources, this 'Fiddler' doesn't feel dated at all.

Whilst this production does have very stylized dance moves and music, they don't make up for the old and tired themes, meandering plot, and off-putting Nadsat lingo.

Casting a bit of light on the history of free blacks in the West, a Shakespearean actor brings a kind of humble audacity to role of the first black man to cast a vote in England. It's a lovingly and masterfully crafted performance, buoyant and never didactic.

Count Basie and Duke Ellington, both phenomenal pianists, composers and bandleaders were fierce competitors. But not at the recording studio or concert hall.

This hour-plus of insidious, challenging weirdness lands its punch squarely in the gut.

Lovingly reconstructed, this aspirational-fantasy story of Russian shtetl Jews emigrating to America is a fascinating period piece of great historical and cultural interest, as well as a robustly acted and brilliantly sung spectacle of theatrical joy.

As Broadway dimmed its lights for a minute on Tuesday evening in remembrance of this great soul and most unique voice of the theater, all those in the theater world understood that Friel's shoes will not be filled easily. And who better than the Irish Rep to honor him?